Sacrifice
by AZGirl
Summary: The consequences of lying to the FBI. Tag to 1.18 Loa Aloha.
1. Gone

**Title**: Sacrifice

**Summary**: The consequences of lying to the FBI.

**Disclaimer**: Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: Episode 1.18, Loa Aloha.

**A/N**: I don't really know what to say about this one. I wanted to write something about the threat of obstruction charges the FBI made in the aftermath of what happened in the episode….

BTW, I didn't do much research on some of the things I mentioned, so please forgive any inaccuracies and flights of fancy.

Thanks to GibbsRules for the beta. All remaining mistakes are mine.

**ooooooo**

**Chapter One: Gone**

After I leave the airport I begin to drive aimlessly around the island. At some point, I drive past a bus stop with an ad for visiting Pearl Harbor. And, that's when it dawns on me to call in and check with my partner even if I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone. I'm content for now to wallow in guilt and self-loathing about not being able to save my brother. But knowing the giant freak, if I didn't at least let him know I'm OK, he'd move mountains, and in our case possibly even volcanoes, just to find me.

I turn on to a side street and park before dialing Steve's number. It barely rings once before going directly to voice mail. It's definitely not what I'd expected, but I'm not going to question my good fortune either. When the beep sounds I say, "I was too late to stop him." I pause unsure I'd be able to really say anything more over the phone. "Thanks for, uh…thanks." I hang up. I know he'll want to hear the whole story at some point, but right now that's all I've got.

ooooooo

In the end, my unplanned stop at Rachel's house served no other purpose but to magnify my feelings of guilt and failure when it came to my family. Though the comfort Rachel provided was welcome and a temporary shelter from the storm, I knew telling Grace about her Uncle Matt would be hell. Of course that hell would be nothing compared to the agony of telling my sisters and especially my parents come the morning.

ooooooo

Even though I told Grace only the most basic version of what was going on with her uncle, she had not taken the news at all well. It took a couple of hours and both her parents to calm her down enough to finally go to sleep. I felt like a steaming pile of crap for leaving my daughter like that, but despite Rachel's invitation to stay the night, I just needed some time to myself before I phoned my parents and destroyed the perfect image they had of their younger son.

I spent the majority of the night, once I actually got home, staring wide awake at my ceiling. My mind just would not stop. Memories of my childhood with Matt and our last few days together kept going round and round in my brain never once slowing down enough for me to get any sleep. At some point in the hour just before dawn, I give up trying and get up for the day. I make some strong coffee hoping the caffeine will help me be more alert. I really want to add a little Irish to my coffee, but don't knowing I still need to call my parents. It's highly likely that I'll need it even more after talking to my family.

But first, I need to place another call. And again, Steve's phone goes directly to voice mail. _Weird_, I think to myself.

"Steve, I'm going to be late this morning. Got some family matters to deal with."

When I hang up this time, I can't help but wonder why I haven't heard from my partner by now. It's not like him. In fact, I sort of half expected a visit from him by now. For the time being I have to let his unusual and oddly disappointing behavior go.

It's time for me to call my family back in New Jersey.

ooooooo

I finally make it to HQ around 11 AM. Talking to my family about Matty had been almost too much for me. As devastated as I was about my brother, my parents were that much more devastated and grief-stricken.

When I enter our office, both Kono and Chin come out to meet me.

"Where have you been, brah? We were starting to worry about you," Chin inquires.

Kono looks towards the door I came in like she's expecting someone and adds, "Where's Steve?"

I start to answer Chin's question when Kono's finally registers in my exhausted mind.

"Wait. What? What do you mean 'Where's Steve?' He isn't here yet?"

"No, man. We haven't heard from him all morning," Chin begins. Then Kono continues saying, "Your phone was continuously busy every time we tried it. And, we've both tried calling Steve's cell several times, but it keeps going straight to voicemail."

"Yeah, me too," I say and lift my hand up to try to rub some of the tension out of my neck. "The last time I saw him was at my brother's hotel…" I give them a quick, mostly unemotional, rundown of what had been going on the last couple of days with my brother.

I leave out what really happened at the airport figuring it'd be best if I kept it to myself. Knowing my partner though, he wouldn't stop his own special brand of pestering until I told him the whole truth of what happened at the airport. I conclude by saying, "There's no reason that I know of as to why he shouldn't be here right now."

Kono puts a hand on my arm and says, "Danny, I'm so sorry about your brother. Is there anything we can do?"

"Thanks for that. But, no. Matt's a fugitive. There's really nothing any of us can do for him unless he decides to turn himself in." I walk towards the computer table and turn towards Chin, "Have you tried tracking Steve's cell?"

"Not yet," he says as he starts programming the computer to do just that. A minute or so later, I hear Chin make a noise of frustration.

"What is it?" I ask.

"GPS is off and I can't remotely activate it."

"Why not?" Kono interjects.

Chin types in a few more commands, but then shakes his head. "I don't know. The only things I can think of are: the phone's damaged or destroyed, the battery was removed, the chip itself was removed, or any of those things in combination."

"Removed?" I lift my hand to rub my eyes. _This can't be happening. Not today._ "Why would he—?"

My cell phone ringing interrupts my train of thought. I look at the caller ID: Governor Jameson.

_Damn. Can't we catch a break?_ I think. _We've hardly closed the last case and haven't even started the paperwork yet. And now Steve might be missing…_

"Governor. What can we do for you this morning?"

What she proceeds to tell me renders me nearly speechless. My expression and inability to speak properly instantly put Kono and Chin on alert, their faces full of concern. The governor finishes explaining the situation to me and asks if I have any questions.

"Why weren't we told before now?"

The governor's reply is curt and I can tell she's just as unhappy as I am at the news she's had to relay to me. I ask her one final question before she can hang up though I'm pretty sure I won't like her answer.

I am not disappointed.

I definitely did_ not_ like her answer.

"Thank you for informing us, Governor. … Yes, we'll let you know if we need any help."

After I hang up, I immediately put my phone in my pocket because if I didn't, then I'd probably end up hurling it across the room.

"Well?" Kono asks. "Was that about Steve?"

"Steve—," I pause trying to gather my thoughts, "Steve was unexpectedly recalled for reservist duty. At the request of the FBI, he'll be assisting them in a classified operation."

I can see Chin has questions, but I hold a hand up to stop him from speaking.

"Normally the Navy Reserves requires only one weekend a month and two weeks a year, but up until now that had been waived given the nature of Steve's duties as leader of Five-0. The Governor was taken by surprise and is definitely _not_ pleased to say the least. She has no idea why she wasn't informed before now or when he'll be back though she was assured that it'd be 'soon'." I mimic a pair of air quotes as I finish relaying the bad news.

I then close my eyes and take a deep breath before conveying the governor's orders. "We're to keep going without Steve and let her know if we need any extra help."

After a few moments, Chin is the first to break the silence, "The Navy and the FBI don't normally work together. If anything it would be NCIS and not the FBI."

"Maybe Steve had a particular skill set they needed," Kono throws out.

"Yeah. Maybe," I mumble unconvinced while thinking back to a conversation about specialties and being recruited that Steve and I had had some weeks ago.

"You think something else is going on?" Chin asks.

I nod and reply, "I do. Don't you think the timing is a little too suspicious? We both just have dealings with the Feds and then suddenly Steve's been practically shanghaied by them?"

Chin shifts his stance and asks, "You don't think this has anything to do with the lie Steve told about your brother's escape plan, do you?"

I run my hand distractedly over my mouth. "It's exactly what I'm thinking. Damn it!" I yell slamming my hand on the computer table and then welcoming the painful sting my action causes.

"Danny, it's not your fault," Kono tries to soothe.

"Damn straight it is! Super SEAL just can't help himself! He throws himself into every situation without considering the consequences. And now, he's God knows where being forced to do God knows what!"

"Boss knew what he was doing," Chin speaks before I can really get going. "He did what he did for you – his partner, his friend. Have you ever not known him to do whatever it took to help one of us?"

"No. I haven't," I concede then turn and start walking towards the exit. I call out over my shoulder as I head through the door, "I'm going out. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

ooooooo

I head to Steve's place to see if I can satisfy my curiosity a bit and find some answers. How had things gone down once I left to try and stop my brother?

When I arrive, I see that Steve's truck in the driveway, but it's not in its usual place. A few seconds search leads me to find my partner's keys sitting on top of the rear wheel on the side of the truck closest to the house. Steve would never be so careless. I use the keys to open his truck and find all the personal belongings I usually see him carry including his badge and ID. His cell phone is in pieces with its GPS chip removed and the battery missing. What worries me the most though is the discovery of his service weapon in its holster with its full clip of ammo removed, along with an unchambered bullet and the spare clips he usually carries.

What the hell kind of help could the FBI need that required Steve to be stripped of his identity and weapon?

I don't bother to check inside the house as I'm pretty certain that Steve never made it back here last night and was shipped out with only the clothes on his back.

There's no way to track Steve. It seems the only option left is to remain patient and hope he'll come back in one piece – so I can beat the crap out of him for pulling this idiotic stunt.

On second thought…

I grab his gun to be on the safe side and his cell phone on a whim. Then I lock his truck back up; taking his keys with me. It seems I'm not quite ready to give up just yet.

It's entirely possible that Steve was able to leave us a clue. I grab my phone and dial Chin's number.

"You find anything?" he inquires as soon as the call connects. I smirk and thank God for such a great team before answering:

"His truck was there with all his personal belongings inside. I'm bringing his cell phone back with me. They took the battery – can you work around that?"

"No problem."

ooooooo

When I return, Chin informs me that Kono, needing something to do until I came back, has gone out for some food. I don't feel like eating, but if it keeps the rookie's mind off of everything for a little while, then I'd be willing to try anyway.

I secure Steve's gun before handing his phone over to Chin. He digs something out of his pocket. A cell phone battery?

"Where did you get that?"

"Given how some of our days go, I thought it wise to have spare batteries and chargers for each of our phones."

I clap a hand to his shoulder and smile, "Good thinking."

Chin inserts the battery, turns on the phone and then sets it on the computer table. He punches some keys and a few seconds later, I can see a lot of data streaming. Not much of what I'm seeing is making any sense, but I can tell Chin is absorbing it all. I turn, cross my arms, and lean against the table impatient but resigned to wait for him to finish analyzing the data.

"I found something," Chin distractedly says after several minutes. "There were no calls made or received from about an hour and a half after you left the hotel. No texts either. But, I found this," he says as he throws the words onto the overhead screens, "text in the drafts folder. I guess the FBI weren't as smart as they thought they were."

I know Chin is still speaking, but I can't hear anything over the roar of the beating of my heart as I continue reading the text message Steve obviously left for me.

"FBI THRTND OBSTRUC CHRG MADE DL 2 DROP M NOT UR FAULT! MY CHOICE"

My mind goes blank but I can hear Chin reading the text aloud. "FBI threatened obstruction charge. Made deal to drop them. Not your fault! My choice."

"That bastard!" I shout out and storm towards my office nearly bumping into Kono as she comes back from the food run.

"Hey!" she exclaims as she tries not to drop the food she's carrying. I don't apologize. Flinging my office door open, I drop into my desk chair before turning it to face away from the door.

I'm done.

ooooooo

To be concluded…

**ooooooo**

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	2. Sacrifice

**Title**: Sacrifice

**Summary**: The consequences of lying to the FBI.

**Disclaimer**: Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: Episode 1.18, Loa Aloha

**A/N**: Just wanted to say thanks to those who left reviews but I couldn't reply… Thanks! =]

I've made some changes to this since GibbsRules read it, so all remaining mistakes are my fault.

**ooooooo**

**Chapter Two: Sacrifice**

It's after 9:30 at night 13 days after McGarrett's been recalled to duty when I get a text from a blocked number. It contains four words and a number:

QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER. ROOM 323.

My stomach lurches. There's no doubt in my mind that the text is referring to my reckless idiot of a partner. I hastily get my shoes on, grab my stuff, and head to the hospital. While driving there I find myself dreading seeing a critically injured Steve.

Because it's after visiting hours, I have to flash my badge to get access to Steve's floor. When I show my ID to the first nurse to question my presence, she says, "We've been expecting you, Detective. We just got Commander McGarrett settled in about an hour ago."

"Settled in? You mean he was in another part of the hospital before now?"

"No, he was transferred from the mainland and arrived here just over two hours ago."

"Do you know from where?"

"No, sorry."

"Can I see him?"

"He was heavily sedated for the trip and won't be waking until morning. It's likely he'll never know you were there."

_I'll know_, I think to myself when she pauses and looks as though she's carefully considering her next words. Smiling slightly, she continues, "But, I know cops look after their own so I guess it's no use asking you to come back once visiting hours start."

"That'd be a good guess. I promise to stay out of the way," I declare lifting my hands in pleading gesture.

Pointing down the hall, she reveals, "Last room on the left."

I smile and point in the direction she'd just indicated, "Thanks."

When I reach his room, I hesitate at the door. I'm still royally pissed that he felt that he had to save me from the consequences of my actions, from the punishment I deserve for letting my brother go.

But, upon stepping into the dimly lit room, my anger fades away and concern returns full force. The light above his bed illuminates his face just enough for me to see lots of shallow cuts all over his face and neck. The only other obvious injury I can see in the semi-dark is that his right thigh, elevated by a couple of pillows, is wrapped with thick bandages.

_What the hell has happened to you, my friend?_ I think before grabbing one of the two chairs in the room and bringing it over to Steve's bedside. I sit on the torture device hospitals like to call a chair and try to settle in for the night. But, before I get too 'comfortable,' I send a text to Chin and Kono about Steve's location, telling them to wait until visiting hours to come – preferably with coffee, lots of coffee.

ooooooo

I must have finally fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I know, the room is becoming brighter due to the natural light coming in from the window. I get up and try to stretch the kinks out of my back, which I naturally blame Steve for. Walking toward the window, I continue to move my limbs hoping they'll wake up and start obeying me better. I'm enjoying the view outside, when I hear the sheets rustle and a small groan coming from the bed.

I rush over to see Steve blinking, obviously trying to focus his vision. After a few moments, his eyes then start to scan the room. When he sees me, he looks a little surprised, but manages a slight smile before rasping out a quiet, "Danny?" He tries shifting in bed, but quickly realizes it's a bad idea. He clears his throat and asks, "Where am I?"

"Hospital," I reply, gesturing towards the machinery Steve's hooked up to, and enjoying the tiny bit of mostly harmless revenge I'm getting for my partner's actions by not fully answering his question.

He frowns and tries glaring at me, before reiterating his question. "No. Which hospital?"

"Queen's."

Steve's heart rate picks up a bit. "How did—? When—?" He pauses and I can see him force himself to calm down a bit. He clears his throat and asks, "How long have I been here?"

From the expression on his face, I can tell he doesn't know how he got here from wherever he was, and that not knowing what's happened to him is really unnerving him. I decide to give him a break for the moment.

"I got a text that you were here around 9:30 last night. A nurse I ran into said you had arrived sometime around two hours before I got here. What's the last thing you remember?"

His brow furrows and he gets a faraway look to his eyes. "Fighting to stay conscious in an ambulance. How long have I been gone?"

"Today would've been two weeks."

Aneurysm Face makes a brief appearance before he schools his features and calmly announces, "Then I've lost just over two days."

"Two days?" I say a little too loudly for the time of morning as I throw my arms up in the air. "How badly were you hurt?" I say with a tone that hopefully said to not even bother trying to lie to me.

"There was an explosion…. Don't ask. It's classified. The piece of shrapnel that ended up in my leg…there was a lot of blood. It must have nicked my femoral artery."

I run both my hands through my hair then grasp the bed's rail hard enough to hear the plastic creak, "You almost bled out?"

"Don't know," he mumbles blinking his eyes tiredly. "Maybe. Ask the doc when he comes by."

"I hate you," I exclaim without any real heat.

"No you don't." he smugly replies from sleep-heavy eyes.

I smack the foot of his uninjured leg. "Yes, I really do. You had no right—!"

"I did. I have every right," Steve interrupts, glaring at me. "You're my partner, my friend, and my ohana. I would do anything to protect you, Chin, Kono, and especially Grace. I had to do this. I _wanted_ to—"

I hold my hands up in a gesture of surrender. He'd had me at 'Grace'. Anyone who would care enough to go so far to protect me and my daughter deserved to be let completely off the hook.

"OK. OK. I get it…." I say then force myself to look Steve directly in his eyes. "I'm really sorry my actions put you in that situation. That they got you hurt."

Shrugging like it's no big deal, Steve asks, "Did you get the message I left?"

I nod an affirmative and he continues, "I meant it then, and I mean it now. It's… not… your… fault." He lifts a hand and points at his chest, "And, it was my choice." Yawning and closing his eyes before forcing them open, he concludes, "You got it?"

I gently lay a hand on the lower half of his injured leg, "Get some rest. We can talk again later. Chin and Kono should be here," I check the clock on the wall, "in about an hour."

Steve's fighting the rest he needs, but he manages to mumble as sleep takes over, "Sorry… Your brother… Haven't been there for…"

_Freaking moron! The idiot keeps me from getting charged with obstruction, gets hurt, probably almost dies, and yet he still feels guilty for not being here for me!_

I throw my hands up in the air in supplication for patience and understanding.

I run my hand over my face and rub my eyes. Even though my partner wasn't physically by my side for the emotional fallout my brother's crimes and flight caused, it was his sacrifice that made it possible for me to be there for Grace and my family these past two weeks.

I'll never forget that.

As I sit back down on the instrument of torture, I quietly say, "You're my ohana too. Thank you, brother."

ooooooo

_Friends are relatives you make for yourself. – Eustache Deschamps_.

ooooooo

The End.

**ooooooo**

**A/N:** I know the conclusion probably disappointed some of you, but I was more interested in exploring Steve and Danny's friendship rather than those two weeks Steve was gone. I'm also still getting the hang of these characters, so I hope you enjoyed this anyway…

_**Thanks for reading!**_


End file.
